Either way, there will be no third consecutive Elite 8 for Notre Dame.

The 28-8 Mountaineers, carrying a giant chip on their shoulders from a perceived lack of national respect, kept coming, again and again — five Smokin’ Joe Fraziers obsessed with ruining the other guy’s rhythm and wearing him down and wearing him out and sapping his will.

West Virginia, an 83-71 winner, will meet Gonzaga in a West region Sweet 16. “People aren’t used to playing at the pace we play at,” Bob Huggins said.

Jersey point guard Matt Farrell, given the keys to the Irish kingdom with Demetrius Jackson and Jerian Grant gone, took a visit to the Heartbreak Hotel. Farrell (8 points, 6 assists, 4 turnovers) was hounded mostly by Jevon Carter (24 points) and occasionally by just about everyone except Jerry West.

“It’s hard to prepare for, it came at us fast,” Farrell said. “They sped us up, took us out of our stuff, but at the same time we got a lot of good looks. We missed a lot of open looks.”

And now there will be no more basketball for Notre Dame.

“It’s hard to put into words,” Farrell said, mourning the end of the careers of Steve Vasturia and V.J. Beachem. “It’s not a good feeling obviously.”

A corner 3 by Matt Ryan cut the Irish deficit to 72-66 before Carter, with the shot clock winding down, drained a 3 from the left wing.

“We knew they were gonna have a hard time guarding us,” Carter said.

The Irish were 6-20 in the second half from downtown South Bend.

“I wanted them to shoot 3s,” Huggins said. Beachem was 1-9.

Bonzie Colson committed his fourth foul with 9:47 remaining and the Irish trailing 59-47. Mike Brey, playing catchup all afternoon, stayed with him. Colson helped deliver a corner 3 amidst an up-and-down series of long-range shots. A second 3 by Brooklyn’s Tarik Phillip extended the West Virginia lead to 57-47

Mountaineer guards Carter (13 points) and Daxter Miles Jr. (9) led the way.

The Mountaineers scored the game’s first 10 points and had Brey calling timeout with 16:47 left in the half.

Brey summoned 6-foot-10 Martinas Geben off the bench in an attempt to neutralize the West Virginia size advantage. Soon after, Farrell hit a 3 and an uncontested jumper to bring the Irish back, and forced Huggins to call timeout as he barked at Brooklyn’s Teyvon Myers.

Brey rested Farrell briefly with 5:45 remaining in the half and a Steve Vasturia 3 and a pair of free throws by T.J. Gibbs cut the Irish deficit to 32-29. The Irish never got closer.